More than 1,200 First Responders File Class Action Lawsuit in Hawaii Over Vaccine Requirement

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Vaccine Requirement Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: More than 1,200 first responders have joined a class action lawsuit against Honolulu and Maui Counties. 
• Why: The first responders say a vaccine requirement by their employer violates their civil rights.
• Where: The lawsuit involves first responders located in Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii.

More than 1,200 first responders have joined a class action lawsuit filed against Honolulu and Maui County officials, claiming a COVID-19 vaccine requirement put in place violates their civil rights. 

The class action lawsuit was filed in federal court Friday by a dozen plaintiffs, including firefighters, police officers, and other first responders. The plaintiffs want to stop Hawaii Governor David Ige, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, Maui Mayor Michael Victorino, and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, among others, from enforcing a vaccine or testing mandate announced recently. 

The plaintiffs are suing under The Civil Rights Act of 1871, which allows people to sue the government for violations of civil rights. They’re alleging the defendants deprived them of their constitutional rights to due process in violation of the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution with a vaccine requirement that was announced last week. 

The plaintiffs want to represent first responders from the Honolulu Fire Department, the Honolulu Police Department, the Maui Fire Department, the Maui Police Department, the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services Department, and the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department. 

They say implementing a vaccine mandate is a violation of their civil rights and their collective bargaining agreement, Hawaii Revised Chapter 89. 

Governor Ige issued a statement last week that all state and county workers would need to get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to weekly testing beginning on Aug 16, and that refusal to do so could be grounds for termination.

The announcement drew the ire of workers’ unions, which claimed the plan was not appropriately discussed with them ahead of time. The plaintiffs say it should be up to them to make the decision on whether or not to take the vaccine, and that their employment status should not be threatened. 

“Governor Ige has callously and recklessly disregarded these long standing principles and entered an Emergency Proclamation suspending Hawaii Revised Chapter 89, thereby leaving Plaintiffs no other avenue of relief other than the federal court to enforce their clearly established federal statutory and constitutional rights,” the class action lawsuit says.

What are your thoughts on a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for first responders or other workers? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Shawn A. Luiz, Michael Jay Green of Michael Jay Green & Associates, Inc., and Kristin Coccaro, Esq. of Empire Law, LLLC. 

The Hawaii Vaccine Requirement Class Action Lawsuit is Pelekai v. State of Hawaii, Case No. 1:21-cv-00343-DKW-RT, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.

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